Re: Welcome to New Ultralight DX Group Members
Russ Edmunds <wb2bjh@...>
--- On Fri, 9/19/08, Jay Heyl <yahoogroups@...> wrote:
Thanks for the welcome, Gary. I guess in some ways I was involved with ultralight radio long before anyone considered it a category with any distinction from just listening to the radio. For years I've taken my DT200V to the park with me at lunch to listen to local favorite programs and sometimes see what else I could catch from greater distances.
Much more recently I picked up a SRF-59. Initially I was very put off by the awkward tuning and the virtual impossibility of knowing where you're tuned from the dial reading. Then I gave it a couple more chances and eventually realized what a truly awesome little radio it is. I bought two more as refurbs from the Sony store with the idea of modding them. One is just as good as my original one, but the other is barely average at best. One of these days I'm going to cut the case open and glue on a much bigger tuning knob.
Just this week I took delivery of a E100 from Durham Radio. I really want to like this radio. It's a great size. It feels solid and well made. But the barn door-wide AM filter is a huge negative. It makes DXing on either side of a local station an extraordinary challenge.
Not an ultralight, but another fairly recent acquisition I'm very happy with is the Sony ICF-S5W. I got it off ebay, formerly owned by a little old lady from Sarasota. The tone and volume switches were dirty to the point of being non-operational. I took it apart, hit the switches with some De-Oxit, and now it's almost good as new. If anyone is interested, I took some photos as I disassembled the S5W and annotated them with things to look out for when taking the radio apart. You can see the photos here. Be warned that the full size images are VERY large. I uploaded the originals so anyone wanting to get a good look inside could zoom in without everything going fuzzy. If you click on the "Get Original Uploaded Photo" link you may be in for a wait if you don't have a fast connection.
I'm looking forward to loads of fun with these little radios.
Hi Jay - I remember having the opportunity when the S5W first came out back in the 1970's to test drive one for a week as part of a group test. It was a great radio for its time, but I didn't buy one, being somewhat short of cash at the time and also as I had the RS TRF still and also the Hammarlund HR-10 so I couldn't justify a third portable.
Russ Edmunds
Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL )
[15 mi NNW of Philadelphia]
40:08:45N; 75:16:04W, Grid FN20id
<wb2bjh@...>
FM: Yamaha T-80 & Onkyo T-450RDS w/ APS9B @15'
AM: Modified Sony ICF 2010 barefoot;
Stock Sony SRF-59 & Sangean DT-200vx barefoot;
Hammarlund HR-10
Thanks for the welcome, Gary. I guess in some ways I was involved with ultralight radio long before anyone considered it a category with any distinction from just listening to the radio. For years I've taken my DT200V to the park with me at lunch to listen to local favorite programs and sometimes see what else I could catch from greater distances.
Much more recently I picked up a SRF-59. Initially I was very put off by the awkward tuning and the virtual impossibility of knowing where you're tuned from the dial reading. Then I gave it a couple more chances and eventually realized what a truly awesome little radio it is. I bought two more as refurbs from the Sony store with the idea of modding them. One is just as good as my original one, but the other is barely average at best. One of these days I'm going to cut the case open and glue on a much bigger tuning knob.
Just this week I took delivery of a E100 from Durham Radio. I really want to like this radio. It's a great size. It feels solid and well made. But the barn door-wide AM filter is a huge negative. It makes DXing on either side of a local station an extraordinary challenge.
Not an ultralight, but another fairly recent acquisition I'm very happy with is the Sony ICF-S5W. I got it off ebay, formerly owned by a little old lady from Sarasota. The tone and volume switches were dirty to the point of being non-operational. I took it apart, hit the switches with some De-Oxit, and now it's almost good as new. If anyone is interested, I took some photos as I disassembled the S5W and annotated them with things to look out for when taking the radio apart. You can see the photos here. Be warned that the full size images are VERY large. I uploaded the originals so anyone wanting to get a good look inside could zoom in without everything going fuzzy. If you click on the "Get Original Uploaded Photo" link you may be in for a wait if you don't have a fast connection.
I'm looking forward to loads of fun with these little radios.
Hi Jay - I remember having the opportunity when the S5W first came out back in the 1970's to test drive one for a week as part of a group test. It was a great radio for its time, but I didn't buy one, being somewhat short of cash at the time and also as I had the RS TRF still and also the Hammarlund HR-10 so I couldn't justify a third portable.
Russ Edmunds
Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL )
[15 mi NNW of Philadelphia]
40:08:45N; 75:16:04W, Grid FN20id
<wb2bjh@...>
FM: Yamaha T-80 & Onkyo T-450RDS w/ APS9B @15'
AM: Modified Sony ICF 2010 barefoot;
Stock Sony SRF-59 & Sangean DT-200vx barefoot;
Hammarlund HR-10